How to Avoid a Big Meltdown Next Time You Update WordPress

Wordpress is an excellent CMS, but as I learned
recently, not all updates to the it's core, themes and plugins go
smoothly. Take some simple precautions to help safeguard
your database and content when performing updates.

Backup, Backup, Backup!

This one should be fairly obvious, but is often
overlooked. Wordpress has sever backup plugins available.
Among my favorites are BackWPUp and UpdraftPlus. It's important not only to
schedule regular backups, but to perform them manually whenever you
are updating Wordpress, themes or plugins. While Wordpress core
updates are usually pretty solid, theme and plugin updates often
introduce new bugs that can wreak havoc on your site.

Use Reputable Theme and Plugin Providers

I try to stay away from themes and plugins that are not
produced/distributed by reputable providers. Too many
times I have had to restore a site or repair damage by themes and
plugins made from sloppy code. Before I select a theme or plugin, I
will research the developer to ensure they provide adequate support
for their products.

Research Update Stability

Last year, a simple update to a popular form plugin
brought down one of our sites for several days. Even
though the plugin was by a well known developer, bugs will
happen... sometimes awful ones. Since that time, I now take a few
minutes to review the release notes for a theme or plugin updates
and I review user feedback to ensure the update is stable.

So long as you have a current backup of your site, you should be
able to restore easily if an update causes trouble for you. I can
only hope that my past experiences and advice might save you from a
day of headaches!